Homeschool Plans for Grades 10, 6, and K

I’m back!

I’ve been on hiatus from this blog for almost a year now. Lots of things happened that caused me to step back from blogging including finishing my bachelors degree, the kids becoming super involved in scouting, and mental health issues added in.

In another post I will talk more about my mental health and how it has affected our homeschool. For this post though, I wanted to share our plans for the coming school year. This will be our 11th year of homeschooling and the kids are in 10th grade, 6th grade, and Kindergarten.

We’ve all agreed to go for a more structured route this year. The girls are pretty independent and can work on their own while I help little brother. I set aside most of Monday as homeschool coop day, and on Fridays we will all work together on science.

I did the bulk of my homeschooling shopping this year at one time, in person. That way the kids could look at the books and decide what they wanted to study. We have a big Christian bookstore in our area that has an amazing homeschool curriculum section. After we had figured out our main topics and subjects, I bought used supplement books at Half Price Books, online, and from other homeschoolers.

We haven’t exactly nailed down what to use for Algebra 1. I found Horizons Algebra on clearance and bought it for a spine text, but it doesn’t look very engaging for Raven. She struggles with math, so we might be looking at a few online options like Kahn Academy or Unlock Algebra.

Science – Chemistry with Labs

Both girls want to study chemistry this year. I have decided to teach science together as a family so that Raven won’t feel lonely doing her labs. We might also have a couple homeschool friends join us for chemistry class.

I bought the Chemistry for the Grammar Stage teacher book for Denna this Spring. As I was looking through the book, I fell in love with the series. Paige over at Elemental Science uses living books that are easy to locate (most can be found at the library). I’m waiting for the high school level chemistry course to be released on the site, but for now I’m planning our lessons based on the grammar and logic stage books and a few other lists that I have found online.

Raven will also have credits for Physical Education, Art, and Music. She pursues these through hobbies and activities outside the home like choir, scouts, and her digital art (which she has sold!).

Denna: 6th Grade

Denna didn’t start any formal curriculum until last year. So even though her curriculum may be 3rd and 4th grade level, she is already almost halfway through her English and math books and will soon be at 6th grade level. Homeschool curriculum also tends to be more difficult than public school textbooks, by at least a year.

Gus: Kindergarten

My little guy started the ABC series workbooks last year, and we have been taking it slow – going at his pace. He recognizes all his numbers now and can do some simple math. We’re going to continue through his workbooks and add in some phonics instruction this year.

We also use a lot of YouTube channels for learning. You can see my huge list of video channels and lists to use for homeschooling.

I feel pretty confident about this year of homeschooling. We have lots of extracurricular activities, so I’m hoping I can keep up the momentum when it comes to scheduling and keeping track. Last year I was so busy with school and trying to figure out my own health that it felt chaotic.

Three students might be a challenge, but with two independent learners and a younger child we can do a lot of relaxed unit studies and reading together.

I did purchase color-coded binders, planners, and notebooks so that each child has their own color. I also subscribed to Homeschool Minder to help keep track of credits and grades. I used it at the end of the year this year to make Raven’s 9th grade transcript and it helped immensely.

That is our curriculum and plan for the year! Like I said, I will be adding in supplemental living books, unit studies, and more of our relaxed/delight-directed bent as I hash things out.